Shutdown is "purely political," McCarthy says

I'm back, third time.

Third time. Two more times, I get a robe. Yeah. You get a robe and a frequent flyer card-- There we go. --which is worth absolutely nothing anyway.

Pretzels. Nothing worth it anyway. All right. This is now the longest full-blown federal government shutdown in American history. There have been longer partial government shutdowns. Oh, that was partial before. That's really important. Is that a badge of honor for Mike Johnson? No. From perspective, you got to realize why this is. Look, I call it the Seinfeld shutdown because it's a shutdown about nothing. We have never shut the government down over a continuing resolution, which, to your viewers, which are highly-educated--

They are. --people, that simply means keep government exactly as it is. So there are no advantages to anybody else. But the reason why they shut down, purely political. It's the reverse where Republicans were into 2013. You've got a Republican in the White House for a second term, so Democrats are upset. You've got a CR that happened earlier in the year, where Schumer had a book deal and couldn't even go out on a book tour--

Because he was afraid of his security because of the backlash from the left. You've got the Democrat leaders, the weakest leaders the Democrats have ever had. Hakeem can't make a decision. He can't deliver a message. And so the masses determine it. So now the rank and file are stronger than their own leaders. And the leaders-- When Democrats say this is about something, it's not Seinfeldian because it's about-- About what? --Obamacare premiums. No, it's not, because that's later. Well, they say it's now because the notices are going to go out. Open enrollment is now. And people are going to deal with the premium increases now. If you talk to Democrats at the beginning, that's not what they said. They said they've got to change what Trump is doing. He's got to give us money back. He's got to do this. He's got to reverse course. They are trying to find a message through this. Now, the challenge-- How long does it last? Well, this is the tough part because it's over a continuing resolution. And you normally feel pressure by now. Normally, you wait until a payday. And the troops not getting paid, nobody can [? stay. ?] It also is-- normally, in these fights, everybody starts euphoria. Both sides are, we're winning. We're winning, because the base tells you that. And then you get two weeks into it, it's usually pretty defined. But the country's very divided. So Republicans think it's Democrats' fault. Democrats think it's Republicans' fault. And this White House [INAUDIBLE] this shutdown. Yeah. You're paying the troops. America's not feeling a lot of the pressure yet. So you've got to have pressure on them. And I was talking to this Democrat member the other day. They really think they're winning. Because they say, look, every day Congress is not back in session, we win. I said, what are you talking about? Because you have a Republican majority. We stopped it. They only have so many days to be a majority. They're wasting their time. Well, this is the Democrats' view. So they will keep it going because-- think about it. You can't pass a Republican agenda to pass a bill. You have to have a hearing, then a markup. And if the committees aren't meeting, they feel they're winning. What's going on with Marjorie Taylor Greene? What do you mean? Well, she's endorsed the idea of expanding Obamacare healthcare incentives. She's--

Not expanding it. Her argument--

And she said that the Republican leadership should end this shutdown and that she's on the Epstein thing. She seems to be positioning herself differently than the rest of the Republican conference in the House. Well, Marjorie is unique in a manner that she knows her compass and her why. And when she finds an issue, she's fearless. I think most members, if they had a right to vote on Epstein, it'd probably be a 400-vote bill to put it all forward. It's just hasn't had the right to have a vote yet. Because Johnson we don't allow it because-- Well, when it has a vote, it'll be-- I think today, he said he's going to allow a vote. I don't know. Don't quote me. But I thought I read a headline like that. What Marjorie's saying about health care, if you talk deeper with her, she says, Obamacare has screwed everything up. Let's not punish people. Let's reform what this subsidy is, because she's worried about the young people not being able to afford and care. And that's a place where she's saying, let's have some negotiations. What's going on in California with Prop 50? It's a tough time because we're so partisan. This is to redraw the district lines in California to respond to the Texas Republican effort-- This is wrong. --to redraw-- What I would say to-- and California is different than any other state because California voters have voted on this twice and overwhelmingly, by a 61% vote, said--

For the redistricting commission. --they like a commission. But if you listen to what the Democrats say, they say they're protecting the commission by taking the commission away. We're better than this. I will tell you this. I was a Californian, and Nancy Pelosi was a Californian. She became speaker. I became leader. In four years, we won the majority by a five-seat majority. We won five more seats in California. We didn't redraw the lines. We didn't run away. We found better candidates and a better message. If you keep redistricting across the country, you're taking away competition. You're taking away the voters right to decide who to represent them. And I just think California is better than any other state. If they decided their constitution should have a commission for a few elected officials to think they're going to play politics or they're going to use this to run for president, long term, this is so wrong on every level. Are you familiar with what has been published recently about Paul Ingrassia, who is the president's nominee to head the Office of Special Counsel? I haven't read it all. I just saw what Thune had said. Yes, that it's in very big jeopardy. And here's why. "Martin Luther King, Jr. was the 1960s George Floyd and his holiday," quote, "should be ended and tossed into the seventh circle of hell, where it belongs." It's disqualifying.

For this position? Yes, yes. Is it part and parcel-- What I read in a headline is-- I didn't read all of his quotes. But they were within the last year. I think these quotes are within the last year.

Yeah. That's disqualifying to me. OK. Before I let you go, I want to ask you about something that Seth Dillon, who publishes The BabylonBee, recently wrote in The Free Press,something-- BabylonBeeis hilarious. But what's so sad is, you think those headlines are real sometimes.

I know. And the headline is "the foolishness of no enemies on the right." I'm going to quote from him. "Last week, Politico reported on leaked group chat texts that show young Republican members reveling in open racism, antisemitism, and violent fantasies. The right, including JD Vance, have dismissed the story, arguing that it pales in comparison to what leftists have said and done. In other words, our friends get a pass." They don't. "Whenever I criticize the bad ideas on our site," he goes on to write, "antisemitism, historically illiterate revisionism, baseless conspiracy theories, authoritarian impulses, a mob forms to accuse me of treachery and betrayal. I'm attacked for punching right, dividing the movement, and, quote unquote, 'hurting the cause.' If unity," he writes, "means refusing to confront evil within our own ranks, then I don't want it." No.

Do you agree with that? 100%. What those people--

And do you worry about what's going on in some elements of the right? Yes, I do. And you should call it out. And it's not in the elements of just the right, in the elements of the left. Right. But you care about the future of your party. I care about the future of humanity. I care about America. I care about history. And if history is ignored, it repeats itself. This bigotry and antisemitism has got to end. And you have to call it out wherever--

Wherever you see it. Wherever. I don't care if--

So you call it on the right, you're not dividing the ranks. You're not dividing the ranks. Those people are not real conservatives. Look, I'm a former chairman of the National Young Republicans. This is unacceptable. These people should be removed. And the thing that gets me is, if somebody else was on those texts, why didn't they call him out at that moment? You cannot let this-- Do you think that that's created a kind of fever of acceptability within Republican ranks? No, no. Look, you're making it just--

No, I'm just asking. Yeah. But I think as a responsibility as a leader in the Republicans, you call it out. You have a responsibility within your own party. Look. When I found a member of my party saying antisemitic, I removed him from committees, where other leaders never did. He was a member of Congress from Iowa. He ended up losing his seat. Because you need to govern yourself. If you just look the other way, is that acceptance? And what happens to the future? What happens with your children? This simply goes back to-- like the Prop 50 you were just asking me. Democrats should do the exact same thing. You voted for a commission. Why look the other way? You know we're better than that. You know it's in the Constitution. It's the right thing to stand up-- just because Gavin Newsom wants to run for president-- and say no. California should lead. California was the first state in the nation to go and vote for a commission. We should lead the nation. And what are we leading it in? That we don't care about our constitution, that we'll look the other way. I won't look the other way if somebody, whether they be Republican or Democrat, whether they be any association-- I will call them out. Kevin McCarthy, I always appreciate it. Hey, thanks. I'm looking forward to the robe.